This thesis is about selection processes and processes of measuring and judging athletes in competitions in top-level sport. The purpose was to increase the knowledge of these processes and to analyse them from a validity perspective in order to contribute to the discussion of whether the “right” athletes are selected to participate in teams, competitions and games and whether the “right” athletes win. The rule and judging systems were investigated in the judged sports acroski and rhythmic gymnastics. Information was gathered through individual interviews with two judges, two coaches, and four elite athletes from each of the sports, and in addition to this the respective sport’s rule systems, judging manuals, meeting protocols and historical documents were studied. Selections to top-level sport teams were investigated by individual interviews with 14 top-level coaches (selectors) from the national league in soccer and a national team and from national teams in alpine skiing. The results from the judging study showed that both studied sports had undergone major changes in their rule and judging regulations, changes that had a considerable impact on the sports and the judgements. The level of definition of the rules and regulations was raised to increase the opportunities for clear and reliable judgements, but this became problematic for the overall validity of the judgements. The reason for this was that the new rules and regulations did not clearly correspond to the original idea of the sport, since the specified and detailed regulations lead to less originality and freedom in the performances. In the selection study, the results pointed to great differences in how precisely defined the selection criteria were among the teams. The selectors stated that well-defined selection criteria or grounds could be helpful in many ways, but they also emphasised how important it was for them that some parts of the selections were based on their subjective valuations of the athletes. Quite a few coaches from both sports argued that they would choose an athlete with good behaviour and favourable personality over an athlete with better sports skills, if they had an opportunity to do that depending on the selection system that was used. Overall, this research displays how validity issues connected to the selection and judging criteria and these processes might affect the outcome of the processes. It is notable that high reliability is in the main focus of the measuring and judging processes, while considerably vaguer and more subjective assessments are considered important in the selection process. The thesis points to the importance of discussing and understanding the consequences of rules, rule changes, selection and judging criteria as well as how these processes are performed, if the desired outcomes and consequences of the selection and judging processes are to be reached.

Analisi del parere di lettura come genere editoriale e come strumento utile alla storia dell'editoria, della letteratura e alla filologia. / This study explains the implications of the study of the Einaudi judgements about new manuscripts as instrument of the history of publishers, of literature and philology.

Architecture is a dilemma of transforming complex desires into compelling forms. It stands to reason, then, that to better understand the desires of a user might produce a more compelling form. This is an investigation into the process of design, wherein narratives are constructed as a productive tool for innovation. These narratives are the synthesis of both the desires of the client and the discriminations of the designer. Eschewing the conception of the architect as a mystic, this thesis begins with an investigation into how we represent complex Architectural ideas to a client. It begins a process, or framework, through which a project can be conceived. It both demands that the client shed preconceived, and potentially erroneous, associations between desires and design, to get to a more pure understanding of the needs of a client. The hope is that by rendering Architectural intention less opaque, we might come to a better understanding of the desires of a client, and thus create a new way of practicing; wherein neither client nor architect rely on a pre-defined set of formal solutions for a constantly evolving problem. The single-family home is the programmatic basis for this investigation. Few other programs illicit as robust and divergent desires than the home. It's not that architecture is in the pursuit of creating narratives. But rather, it's that the process of design is one wherein the creation of a compelling narrative has the potential to produce innovative work. And important to the construction of that narrative is the productive engagement of the client.

I syfte att förbättra kunskapsläget kring människors beteenden vid bränder och utrymningar studerades fyra brandsituationer hämtade från ett flertal verkliga händelser ur ett beslutsfattande- och riskbedömningsperspektiv. Det teoretiska underlaget hämtades ur Kahnemans och Tverskys forskning kring heuristiker (Kahneman och Tversky, 1974; Kahneman, Slovic & Tversky, 1982; Gilovich, Griffin & Kahneman, 2002). För ändamålet användes tre heuristiska regler: tillgänglighet, representativitet och affekt. Dessa tre heuristiker möjliggör ögonblickssnabba riskbedömningar genom att allt utom en särskild variabel bortses från i beslutsprocessen. När människor blir stressade tenderar de att förlita sig mer på heuristiker i sina bedömningar. Analysen visar att det är rimligt att anta att de beteenden som observerats i samband med bränder i de fyra fallen beror på beslut huvudsakligen fattade med hjälp av någon av de tre heuristikerna. Denna kunskap kan öppna upp nya möjligheter för att förebygga dödsfall på grund av felaktiga beteenden i samband med bränder och utrymningar.

The faculty of judgment, whether aesthetic, political, or moral, held a central position in the life of eighteenth-century England. This dissertation reveals the political ideologies underlying the aesthetic judgments (made by composers, audiences, and characters) in a repertoire of masque settings of William Congreve's libretto, The Judgment of Paris from 1701 to 1742. / Chapter One provides an introduction to English political history in the early to mid-eighteenth century, in particular the Parliamentary strife which existed between the Whig and Tory parties, and documents the influence of politics on cultural production and aesthetic ideology. Chapter Two outlines the events surrounding the "The Prize Musick" competition including the circumstances of its inception, sponsors, competitors, and outcome. This chapter also discusses Congreve's ties to the Whig party and the structure and content of his libretto. Chapter Three analyses and compares the settings of the original extant settings from the competition by Daniel Purcell, John Weldon, and John Eccles with emphasis on their relative strengths of orchestration, harmonic structure, and motivic content. In Chapter Four new settings of Congreve's libretto, dating from the 1740s, by Giuseppe Sammartini and Thomas Arne are analysed and compared, both to each other and to the earlier "Prize" settings. This chapter also discusses the rise of other dramatic works based on similar "judgment" or "choice" plots such as Handel's The Choice of Hercules. Finally, Chapter Five outlines the historical function of music and aesthetic judgment in maintaining an orderly society and the role of The Judgment of Paris settings in fulfilling this function.

This thesis considers the role of aesthetic meaning-making in elementary school science learning. Children’s aesthetic experiences are traced through their use of aesthetic judgements, spontaneous metaphors and art activities. The thesis is based on four empirical studies: the first two examining children’s language use, i.e. the role of aesthetic judgements and the significance of spontaneous metaphors while learning science and the latter two dealing with how art activities mediate what elementary school children learn in science and what a variety of art activities with different purposes afford elementary school children to learn in science. The theoretical stance emanates from pragmatist theories and includes Dewey’s definition of an aesthetic experience, Wittgenstein’s later work on language-games, and socio-cultural perspectives. The analytic approach used is a practical epistemology analysis developed by Wickman and Östman. The empirical data consists of audio- and video recordings of elementary school children’s (aged 6–10 years) discussions in pairs or small groups during science lessons and photographs of children’s pictures, sculptures and poems from a total of 14 different elementary school classes. The main findings of the empirical studies show how aesthetic meaning-making is continuous with elementary school children’s scientific learning. The thesis shows how elementary school children’s aesthetic experiences are related to whole activities and are crucial for the direction that learning takes. Aesthetic experience is important in terms of how and what elementary school children learn aesthetically and normatively in science class, which has consequences for cognitive learning, the possibility of participating in science class and learning the genre of science. Moreover, it can be seen how children’s prior experiences are recurrently reconstructed and transformed through imaginative processes.

Hearing a civil case court must ensure due application not only of material, but also of procedural rules of law. The infringements of civil procedure were already defined in the procedural law of 1964 in Lithuania. They always used to determine the absolute nullity of legal proceedings and decreed judgement. Currently these procedural breaches are regulated in final enumeration of the second and third parts of 329 article of valid civil procedure Lithuanian code.

Thesis (MComm (Industrial Psychology))--University of Stellenbosch, 2009. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The last two decades have witnessed an upsurge in the research and use of psychometric tests to aid in the prediction of managerial performance. Currently the most prevailing predictor constructs of managerial performance are cognitive ability, personality, and experience. However, researchers and practitioners are still looking for ways in which to maximise the prediction of managerial performance. In recent years, Situational Judgement Tests (SJTs) have become an increasingly popular selection tool. SJTs are multidimensional psychometric instruments designed to assess an individual’s judgement concerning work-related situations. Evidence to date indicates that SJTs are valid predictors of performance, especially for managerial positions in which interpersonal interactions are important. The main objective of this study was to examine whether SJTs significantly add to the prediction of managerial performance over other measures used for managerial selection, such as measures of cognitive ability and personality. Measures of specific cognitive abilities, personality and a SJT were administered to branch managers in a South African retail bank (N = 124) to investigate the ability of the measures to predict managerial performance. Managerial performance was measured using three measures; Performance Ranking, a Behavioural Observation Scale (BOS) and an Overall Performance Rating. Hierarchical multiple regression was used to investigate the relationship between the predictor composites and the managerial performance measures. Findings reveal different prediction patterns for the three criteria. A multiple correlation coefficient of .442 (p > .05) was obtained when predicting Performance Ranking measures, .308 (p < .05) was obtained for predicting the Behavioural Observation Scale (BOS) measure, and .318 (p > .05) was obtained when predicting the Overall Performance Rating measure. Therefore, only when predicting the BOS measure, the SJT provided incremental validity over cognitive ability and personality measures. Consequently, the average of the scores of the three criterion measures, i.e., the Managerial Performance Composite, was used to evaluate the a priori hypotheses. A multiple correlation of .366 (p > .05) was obtained for predicting the Managerial Performance Composite criterion. Results therefore indicate that the SJT did not exhibit meaningful or statistically significant incremental prediction over cognitive ability and personality to predict the composite managerial performance measure. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die laaste twee dekades het ‘n toename in die gebruik van psigometriese toetse in die voorspelling van bestuurdersprestasie waargeneem. Tans is kognitiewe vermoë, persoonlikheid en ervaring die mees algemene voorspellingskonstrukte vir bestuurdersprestasie. Navorsers en praktisyns is egter op soek na maniere om die voorspelling van bestuurdersprestasie te verbeter. ‘n Onlangse verwikkeling is dat “Situational Judgement Tests” (SJTs) toeneem in gewildheid as seleksie-metode. SJTs is multi-dimensionele psigometriese toetse wat ontwerp is om ‘n individu se oordeelsvermoë ten opsigte van werksverwante situasies te assesseer. Navorsing tot op hede wys dat SJTs geldige voorspellers van prestasie is, veral vir bestuursposisies waarin interpersoonlike interaksies belangrik is. Die hoofdoel van hierdie studie was om te ondersoek of SJTs betekenisvolle waarde toevoeg tot die voorspelling van bestuurdersprestasie bo die gebruik van ander meetinstrumente wat vir bestuurskeuring gebruik word, soos metings van kognitiewe vermoë en persoonlikheid. Vir hierdie doel, is takbestuurders in ‘n Suid Afrikaanse bank (N = 124) se kognitiewe vermoëns, persoonlikheid en situasionele beoordelingsvermoë getoets om die vermoë van die meetinstrumente om bestuurdersprestasie te voorspel, te ondersoek. Bestuurdersprestasie was deur middel van drie meetinstrumente bepaal; prestasie-rangordening (“Performance Ranking”), ‘n gedragsobservasieskaal (“Behavioural Observation Scale”) en ‘n algehele prestasiebeoordelingsmeting (“Overall Performance Rating”). Hiërargiese meervoudige regressie-ontleding was gebruik om die verhouding tussen die voorspellers en die bestuurdersprestasiemetings te ondersoek. Verskillende voorspellingspatrone is vir die drie meetinstrumente gevind. ‘n Meervoudige korrelasie koeffisiënt van .308 (p < .05) is vir die voorspelling van die BOS meting verkry, terwyl .442 (p > .05) en .308 (p < .05) onderskeidelik vir die voorspelling van die prestasie-rangordening en algehele prestasiebeoordelingsmeting verkry is. Gevolglik het slegs die BOS meting inkrementele geldigheid getoon. Die gemiddeld van hierdie drie metings se tellings is gebruik om ‘n bestuurdersprestasie-kombinasietelling “Managerial Performance Composite” te skep wat gebruik is om die finale besluit rakende die a priori hipoteses te maak. ‘n Meervoudige korrelasie van .366 (p >.05) was gevind ten einde die bestuurdersprestasie-kombinasietelling te voorspel aan die hand van die voorspellers.

This thesis discusses the interaction between the concepts of ”justice” (ma&#8219;at) and ”law” (hpw) in ancient Egypt. Ma&#8219;at, one of the earliest abstract terms in human speech, was a central principle and, although no codex of Egyptian law has been found, there is abundant evidence of written law, designed to realise ma&#8219;at on earth. The king, as the highest legal authority, was the nexus between ma&#8219;at and the law. Egyptologists have few sources of knowledge about law and justice in ancient Egypt because the ancient Egyptians used commonplace language in legal documents and they only had a few imprecise technical terms relating to law. For Egyptology to advance, therefore, we need to reappraise its sources. The Tale of the Eloquent Peasant has a strong legal background and should be treated as an additional source of information about how law and justice were perceived and carried out in ancient Egypt. / Classics and Modern European Languages / M.A. (Ancient Languages and Cultures)

Cette thèse s’intéresse aux certifications avec « label », chartes et systèmes participatifs de l’économie solidaire, ou « dispositifs de qualité ». Elle contribue à l’analyse sociologique de ces dispositifs, dans un secteur qui connaît leur multiplication et leur diversification depuis les années 1990. L’enquête repose sur des entretiens au sein de douze réseaux (commerce équitable, AMAP, SEL…), des observations, l’analyse de documents et la passation d’un questionnaire. La genèse des dispositifs met en évidence leur rôle dans la construction d’une identité collective. Leur fonctionnement soulève des enjeux démocratiques. Les représentations de la confiance et de la qualité qui les sous-tendent révèlent le positionnement des collectifs vis-à-vis de la production standard et les uns par rapport aux autres. Leurs usages économiques et identitaires s’inscrivent dans la démarche contestataire des membres les plus actifs. L’hétérogénéité entre les attentes de ces derniers et celles des autres adhérents concourt aux difficultés liées à l’instauration des dispositifs de qualité. Ceux-ci ne sont pas uniquement destinés à l’orientation des acheteurs mais également à la promotion, par des producteurs engagés, de valeurs se voulant alternatives à celles de l’économie classique. / This thesis focuses on solidarity economy’s certification labels, charters and participatory systems, as “quality devices”. It contributes to the sociological analysis of these devices, in a sector in which they are increasing in number and have become more diverse since the 1990’s. This investigation relies on interviews in twelve networks (fair-trade, community-supported agriculture, LETS…), observations, document analysis and the administration of a questionnaire.The history of these measures accounts for the role they play in the construction of a collective identity. The way they operate raises democratic issues. Their underlying representations of confidence and quality reveal the positioning of these networks on standard production and in relation to each other. Their uses as economic and identity-shaping tools need to be viewed as part of a protest strategy adopted by the networks’ most active members. Differences in expectations among network members give rise to difficulty in implementing quality measures. They are not only intended to help buyers but also created by committed producers in order to promote values they consider as “alternative” in regards to classical economy.